Remember
by Johnny Highwater
Summary: It has been a year since he got his memory back and its time to move forward in life. Banri and Linda.


It was the last day of the year and two best friends, Banri and Linda found themselves sitting under a kotetsu to try and keep warm. They had decided to stay in that day since it had been colder than usual outside. At the moment Banri was pealing some oranges to eat and Linda was laying on the floor with her phone in her hands, while the lower half of her body was under the kotetsu.

But she was soon brought out from focusing on the device by the question that Banri had asked her. "Are you sure you should be here on New Year's Eve?"

She then put away the phone and got back into a sitting position so that she could face him. "Its fine. I don't really want to help clean the house, anyway." It was then that she got an idea and she could not stop the smile that came to her face." Hey, Banri, is your family pounding mocha this year?"

"Yea, we are." Banri replied with a smile. This was always something that his family did at this time of year. "My dad's been getting stuff ready ever since last month."

"Wow! It seems that your dad is really going all-out this year, huh?" At this point, Linda had already made up her mind on this subject. "All right! I'll come eat some."

It was no secret to Banri that Linda really loved to eat mocha. Especially since she would only eat it whenever his family was making it. And that was only one time a year. But ever since they had became friends she would always ask to come over this time of year and eat mocha with him and his family.

Banri could not help himself and could not keep the smile that was starting to form on his face, while watching Linda peel an orange and eat it. Even to this day, Banri still loved his best friend. It has been over a year since he had regained his lost memories and in all that time, his love for her has not diminished. It is actually the opposite. With time his feelings has only grown more and more.

However, to Banri, it would seem that Linda hasn't changed in the slightest.

Linda just now noticed the smile that was on Banri face while he was looking at her and it got her curious. "What is it?"

He just realized that he was openly smiling at her in a sort of loving manner and tried to reel himself back in so Linda would not notice. "Oh, its nothing. I was just thinking that if you are coming over to eat, then I will tell my parents to make extra."

"Tell them Linda is looking forward to the ones with red bean paste." She said while closing her eyes and looking as if she couldn't wait until she would be able to eat them. "Especially since I like to put toasted mocha with red bean paste in my New Year's soup."

"I do that, too." replied Banri with a smile on his face. "But the way you say it makes it seem that a lot of people don't really fix it that way. I always thought that that was the way you were supposed to fix them."

"Lots of people find that way of fixing it pretty gross. But on the bright side, that means that we have one more thing in common." Linda said/lectured to Banri.

And it would seem that it surprised him about the fact that people found it gross. "What? But I guess people have there own tastes. For example, my family likes to fix ours with loads of seaweed and stock powder."

Linda on the other hand could only wrinkle her nose at what Banri had just told her. "Your kidding. Even I think that's gross." With that said she went back and started to eat the orange that she had peeled earlier.

"Why do you think that that way of fixing it is gross?" But was not able to get an answer out of her because at that second she had taken a bite out of the orange and the sourness of it made her face scrunch up. And the look she was making made Banri start laughing to the point that his sides were starting to hurt. When the sourness left Linda she also could not help but laugh along with Banri.

It has been a few days since then and Banri had decided that he would go for a run and try to get back into the shape that he was while in high school. And he was almost at the end of his run when he decided that he would go to Horai Bridge, the place where he had lost his memory.

The run to the bridge only took him a few minutes and before long he was standing in the middle of it. "Well, here I am. Back to where it all started." He then reached for the towel that was around his neck to wipe off some of the sweat that formed on his face. " _It is hard to believe that the day after I graduated from high school I fell from this bridge, and apparently lost my memories. And from what Linda has told me, while my memories were gone, I was attending a college in Tokyo. But now that my memories have returned, I've forgotten everything that happened in that time. But even then I was able to meet back up with Linda. Even though, at the time, I did not know that it was her."_

Banri then started to smile, even now, when Linda was not even with him, he could not stop smiling at the thought of her. But the smile that was on his face started to go in the opposite direction. And he could not help but think about the fact that he could not remember the year he had spent in college. " _I don't know what happened between us while my memories were gone, and Linda won't tell me anything. I'm still waiting on this bridge for her answer. She leaves me in the middle of the bridge, maintaining this balance of friendship that we have. But maybe that's Linda's answer in itself."_ After that thought, Banri put his elbows on the railing of the bridge and leaned forward on it. He was content at the moment to just look down at the flowing water below. It was because he was looking down at the water that he did not see Linda standing at the end of the bridge, looking at him.

Linda had decided earlier that day that she would head over to Banri's house. But when she got there Banri's mother told her that he had went out for a run not too long ago. She had searched all over town and could not find him. And that was when she had decided to head back to her house by crossing the bridge that Banri's accident happened on. Not that she really liked to cross it, since it reminded her of the fact that if she would have been on time in meeting up with Banri that night, then he might not have lost his memories in the first place. But right now, the only reason she was going to cross it was because it was a short cut to her house.

Once she reached it however, she stopped dead in her tracks. Right in the middle of the bridge was Banri. To Linda, the way he was leaning on the bridge made it seem that he was waiting for something or someone. It was then that it clicked in her mind. This must have been the way he was standing the night of his accident. He was looking away from everything else but the water below him, almost as if he was waiting on her to give him her true answer.

But that last thought made her freeze. Right now she was terrified of the feeling that she was having right now. For so long she wished for another chance to redo that night and tell him the answer that she was going to give him. But after all of the things that has happened could she really go through with it. Even though he could no longer remember that he once had a girlfriend did not mean that it did not happen. Even when he was with his old girlfriend, she still could feel the emotions that she had locked away so that he could have a normal life, since he did not remember his old one.

Yet here she is contemplating weather or not she should go over there and tell him how she really feels. Honestly, she did feel bad for the girl that he was with, especially since she knew how it felt when Banri had forgotten all about her. But Linda could not stop the fact that she wanted to be with Banri. So she mustered up as much courage as she could and ran towards him and yelled to get his attention. "Banri!"

Banri was then taken away from his thought by the sound of someone yelling his name. When he turned around he saw Linda running towards him with a smile on her face.

"It's..."yes"! She yelled. Once she was a few feet away from him she jumped into the air and wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him.

The sudden proclamation made him a bit curious as to what she was saying. "Linda?" However, it only took a couple of seconds to register what she had just said. And he put on a face that showed that he was wishing what she said was what he was hopping that she meant by it. "It's "yes?"

She then put on a huge smile on her face at the look that he was making, and decided that she had left him hanging on long enough. "It's yes. I love you, Banri. I'm saying 'yes' to all of you!"

The smile that appeared on Banri's face was the happiest that Linda had ever seen. "Really?" Linda then nodded her head and whose smile was reaching the same happiness that Banri's was. "I'm glad I waited all this time! To me it makes it seem all the more worth it." He then wrapped his arms around her and brought her into a hug. "And I promis that if I were ever to lose my memories again, that I will not forget about you and that I will always love you for the rest of my life."

Linda could only laugh at what he just said, and not really minding the fact that it could always be a possibility. "You do know that once this promise is in effect, it can never be broken, no matter what the circumstances may be." Right now she was holding onto his jacked and trying to hold back the tears that were starting to form in the corner of her eyes. Not out of sadness but out of happiness.

Banri just laughed a little while also blushing at what he had just said to her. But he still did not regret saying it. "I hope not."

"If you ever forget me again, I wont show you any mercy, and beat the crap out of you." By this time the tears were starting to slide down the sides of her cheeks. "I won't ever be nice to you. I won't hold back like I've been doing. I won't ever forgive you until you remember." She then rose her head up so that she was now looking directly into his eyes, with a look of hope in hers. "Are you still sure you want to be with me?"

With a loving look on his face, he answered her. "I'm sure."

"It's for the rest of our lives." Banri could hear the pleading in her voice to make sure that he was going to stay with her.

"I know." And before he could say anything else, Linda rose up on her tip toes and kissed him. It only to Banri a few seconds for his brain to come back online and he then started to kiss her back. After a couple of seconds the pair of them broke the kiss and put their foreheads together and enjoyed the closeness of the moment.

It was a few seconds later that Linda leaned back and looked up at Banri with as much love as she could. "Banri... I love you!"

And he looked back at Linda with his own loving smile. "I love you too!"


End file.
